Iraq’s government under former Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki created such animosity among the country’s Sunni population that Da’esh, a trans-national terror group calling itself the Islamic State, was born in mid 2014. Earlier that year, Patten counseled one of the country’s highest-ranking Sunni officials, who led a constructive campaign for preserving the rights of all in Iraq, and maintained his party’s position in the national parliament.